Acting in Good Faith
by atheistbasementdragon
Summary: SPOILER: Five years postwar. The reputation of the adventurer team 'Darkness' has been flagging, to solve the problem, the Sorcerer King comes up with a clever solution using Pandora's Actor and Nabe, will he fail his task successfully? What unexpected benefits will flow from beginning to end? Read on to find out.
1. Meetings, Missions, & Misunderstandings

**AN: Well here we are again, another commissioned piece which I plan to enjoy, might be a bit longer than the last one, but you know how I think about stories by now, they should be as long as needed and no longer. So, here we go. Also, I finished the 2nd chapter of my original work 'Scales of Trust' available on my patr 3 on page at slash tellingstories. At five thousand one dollar supporters, I'll write full time for a living. Four so far, so 4,996 to go. Overlord stuff though, will always be free, and my original work will be previewable on my discord server. So, on with the show! P.S. Included a bit of a shoutout to 'The Overlord and the Human Maid' a wonderful little fic that never got the popularity it deserved)**

_...Nazarick...Ainz' Private Office...Five Years Post War…_

Ainz was relaxed, he wasn't usually relaxed when doing paperwork, however that was the case today, Tuare was comfortably tending to his office as he worked, she no longer seemed as anxious as she was the first time she'd been assigned to him. A few years of routine had settled her into it quite comfortably. Resentment from the other maids had eased since she was only assigned to him intermittently, specifically on days that he had no maids attending to him at all previously.

"It is part of his master plan to train servants loyal to him to tend all the world, do you resent the Supreme One the furtherance of his goals?!" That was what Albedo had said to them after a few weeks of mild hostility had built up, and it had immediately vanished once they'd come to understand, and the after the fact rationalization that they weren't losing anything anyway, did the rest.

Tuare was busy dusting just at that moment when Ainz came across a document pertaining to the intelligence reports on the general morale of the Sorcerous Empire. In the past, mentions of the Dark Hero had been plentiful, he served as a useful conduit to take the pulse of his people, however of late little had been said of him, and on the last venture into E-Rantel while Ainz had been disguised as his alternate persona, neither himself nor Nabe were approached by throngs of admirers.

The Overlord set the document down and looked at the human maid. Tuare was a well trained servant, between that and her survival instincts that taught her when someone was looking at her, she knew quickly that Ainz had shifted his focus to her.

"My lord? How may I serve you?" She asked him with a demure gaze downward as she folded her hands down in front of her. It was a little more formal than he required, but even a tiny extra showing of respect made her more comfortable.

"Just a question, Tuare." Ainz said amicably.

"My Lord?" She prompted as she raised her eyes.

"You know of the Dark Hero's significance to me, do you not?" He asked.

"He makes people comfortable under your unfamiliar rule due to his reputation as a human champion, My Lord." Tuare said with an emphatic nod.

"Yes, that is exactly correct." Ainz said, casually folding one hand over the other at his desk. "As I go through my reports, I find that his team's reputation has been… faltering a bit, speaking as one of the 'common people', how could his reputation be restored in your eyes?"

"My Lord, I… I may not be the best to answer that question." Tuare said softly.

"Oh, why is that?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Because, I am most comforted by your rule. I don't need Momon." She said with a confidence the timid maid seldom exhibited.

"Is that so?" Ainz asked rhetorically.

She nodded emphatically. "I have my husband because of you, I have my life back because of you, I am safe serving you, you've never hurt me, nor let me be hurt, you are the lord this world has always needed, even if we didn't deserve it. So to ask how to boost Momon's name… I would sooner boost your own." She said, her eyes welling up as emotions presented themselves.

Ainz felt even more relaxed, "The peace of my rule has touched you, and I appreciate your words, Tuare, yet my question stands, and even though you do not feel adequate in answering it, I would have your thoughts."

"As my lord commands." Tuare said, "His reputation is built on displays of his humility and his power, he exemplifies human ideals. His reputation has lessened because the chance to show those has been diminished. So… he needs the chance to show them again, My Lord." She said gently.

Ainz nodded, striking sage undead pose number five. "Very sensible, but with no crisis… well… something else will do." Ainz let his thoughts wander as he spoke, his eyes were vaguely on Tuare, and then he leaned back and laughed, "I have it." Tuare looked at him with curious innocence.

"Tuare, you're dismissed for the day, go and see Sebas, have him, Albedo, and Yuri Alpha come to see me immediately." Ainz said casually.

"At once, My Lord." Tuare said with a quick bow before she turned and scuttled out of the room.

A few minutes later each of the three he'd wished for appeared in front of him.

"My Lord." They said and bowed together.

Ainz took note that Sebas, the head butler had a fairly anxious air about him. "Sebas, is something troubling you?" Ainz asked with some concern.

"My Lord, you sent Tuare away, and then summoned the three of us, I feared she had done something to offend… if she has, please allow me to atone for it." Sebas said with a small note of urgency buried beneath his calm tone.

Albedo looked to be barely concealing outrage at Sebas's words, while Yuri Alpha's calm demeanor broke briefly from sheer surprise, only to be quickly corrected by her own limiter as an undead and her calm demeanor was restored.

Ainz shook his head vigorously, "Not at all, she served as well today as she always has, and what is more, she offered decent advice which allowed me to hit upon the answer to a problem I was contemplating."

Relief swept over Sebas's face, while curiosity touched upon the other pair.

"You remember a few years ago Albedo, when yourself and Demiurge hit upon my plan for creating staff suitable for tending the manors of all the leaders of the empire?" Ainz said as he swiftly took credit for their own misunderstanding which… was a really good idea at the time.

"I do, My Lord." Albedo said in answer.

"I believe now is the time to begin implementing this, so I want you to oversee the establishment of a school in E-Rantel, some of the war's orphans from the former Slane Theocracy and those of our own veterans are old enough to begin to enter vocational training. Therefore you will select a suitable site and a design, I will raise the first building from the ground myself, others can be completed by more conventional means elsewhere. Garnish what resources you need to see it done with all due haste. Any questions?" Ainz asked patiently.

"None my lord, your plans are impeccable as always, I had not known you intended to proceed this quickly." Albedo said, her eyes alight with joy, "But I should have known that this was your real intent all along, I will have it done at once." She clasped her hands tight together, Ainz knew where this was going.

"Then go, see to it at once." He said, dismissing her. She bowed and scurried out.

From beyond the door he heard her shout, "Oh! My Lord is so amazing!" As she rushed down the hall to gather those she needed.

Ainz then turned to Yuri Alpha, "Now yourself, I will employ as my first instructor, or more accurately, as a principal, you will handle establishing the guidelines, rules, standards, training, and testing for all maids. You will train the educators, do you know the current standards for maids in this world already?" He asked.

"Low. Very low, my lord." She said with a voice of contempt.

"That bad?" Ainz asked.

She nodded, "In Re-Estize, the maid system used to be noble ladies for the royal family, but they were more widely considered to be 'spies'. Unreliable at best and with no loyalty to the house they served. For common nobles, a pretty girl was thrown in a maid outfit and set to work. She needed little organizational skill and no literacy, they were seldom much better than live-in prostitutes for the local lords. In the former Slane Theocracy, the long lived elves had higher standards as slaves to their houses insofar as what duties were expected of them. However, there was no established curriculum and they could end up with the same wildly varying standards. Disgusting." She said with such revulsion in her voice that he did not choose to probe further.

"I see." Ainz said in a neutral voice. "Then yourself and Sebas will go among the survivors of the old Theocracy. Visit those few houses of significance who were spared the wrath of the Pope, the ones whose staff of elf servants stood forth for them. Their most experienced former or current servants will be offered teaching positions, you will establish a two year training regimen for basic service with a four year course of study for advanced service to train would-be maids and butlers on every aspect of service to everyone from governing officials to wealthy tradesmen."

"This will set about creating general and specialized skill sets. We will raise the bar for service to such a degree that no house will be considered worth anything unless they have a servant of our school administering their affairs or tending to the needs of their estates, and those who are fully staffed with our students will be the only ones considered to be 'great' in the eyes of their peers." Ainz said passionately as the project unfolded before his eyes.

The passion he put into his voice was infectious, and light sprang in the eyes of both servants. "No more will a feather duster and an outfit be considered sufficient for a girl to call herself a maid, no more will a man be able to pridefully call himself a butler by simply standing straight and putting on nice clothing. As with everything we of Nazarick touch, this too must be improved."

"Yes, My Lord!" Sebas said passionately.

"Now, when these schools are built and staffed all over the Sorcerous Empire, I will have 'Darkness' conduct an exhibition in every arena of the empire to not only commemorate, but also 'advertise' the establishment of these schools. Several Nazarick maids, including Tuare, will be used to publicly attend to Momon and Nabe to showcase the unrivaled ability to perform their tasks and create both envy and desire for the quality personnel that we will produce. Do you understand? Or do you have any questions?" Ainz asked them, moving his red eyes from one to the next.

Yuri Alpha and Sebas traded looks at one another, both were shaking with anticipation and eagerness to begin such a grandiose project, he could feel their urge to get up and run to get started. "None, My Lord." Sebas said with deep gratitude in his voice.

After Yuri Alpha echoed the sentiment, Ainz waved his hand before him, "Then you are dismissed, send Pandora's Actor and Nabe to me, then adjust your schedules as you see fit, and commence the selection process immediately. Inform me when you are finished." Ainz ordered, and they stood, bowed, and walked swiftly out the room, he thought he could hear them practically sprinting down the hall as soon as the door shut, but that, he thought, might be his own imagination at work.

"Mein Vater!" Pandora's actor began as he walked into the door to present himself.

"Please! Relax, my son!" Ainz said almost frantically, interrupting Pandora's Actor before he could go on one of his spiels or start overly dramatically gesturing and saluting.

"Ah, yes. Of course, father." Pandora's Actor replied hesitantly.

Ainz took a deep breath, he wanted to get this over quickly. "Your task is simple, you are to visit each Arena of the Sorcerous Empire. At each one, you will mingle with the people, show off your skills and character, humility and nobility, and enhance the reputation of team 'Darkness' and defeat your opponents. You will have maids of Nazarick attending you to show off the skills we produce here, and advertise the greatness of the servant schools we are establishing throughout our lands. We want them clamoring for those who graduate from our courses, long before the first class is deemed ready. When the first crop of graduates is ready for service in a few years, you will tour again, with select top students attending you to show off the results of our work. Do you have any questions?" Ainz asked.

"Yes, My Lord." Nabe replied.

"What is it?" Ainz asked, as he thought, 'Why? Why must there always be questions, can't I just get through one set of orders without having to wing it? How many times have I had to do that?'

"Is this part of your ten thousand year plan?" She asked.

Just then, Ainz muttered in answer to his own question, "Twenty thousand."

Their eyes widened, "You have a twenty thousand year plan?" Naberal Gamma asked in breathless amazement.

'Damn it!' Ainz thought to himself in frustration. "Any other questions?" He asked with a barely suppressed sigh.

"No, My Lord." Naberal said calmly.

"Very well, you have some time to evaluate the locations you'll be visiting, and notify the arena heads to expect this event and to start planning the events. They will need excellent competitors to be worth your time. I realize you could crush them easily, but put on a good show." Ainz reminded them.

He could see the gleam even without there being one in the two doppelgangers' eyes as soon as he said that they should put on a good show. He mentally groaned, wondering just what horror he had unleashed, and wondered for the thousandth time if it was his tastes or the tastes of the New World that were askew. "You're now dismissed, but send me Demiurge and Vanysa on your way out." He said, once again suppressing his frustration with the exaggerated salute of Pandora's Actor before the pair departed to carry out their own orders.

When he was alone again, he went back to tending his paperwork, and made a mental note to have the first set of contracts offered to his daughter and her wife for their own estate. He doubted Neia would accept as she kept a staff of liberated elven volunteers around, but such an offer, made public, didn't need to be accepted in order to be effective. His days as a salaryman came back to mind as he remembered that the mere appearance of prestige was sufficient to draw interest from many quarters, and more than one client had been closed with the promise of prestige for even a perceived success.

Ainz touched his chin thoughtfully, "I play this right, I might even get a short vacation out of this to 'attend' the matches." He said to himself. It was at that moment that he heard Demiurge speaking from beyond the door as he started to knock. "A twenty thousand year plan, can you believe it, he must have been humbling himself to me before to keep me from feeling inadequate at underestimating him so. He's as impressively kind to us as he is intelligent."

"I know, I know, serving such a mountain, I feel like a pebble, yet it means we must redouble our efforts to even hope to be worthy, have confidence Demi, and you will do well at whatever task he gives to you." The feminine voice said in response.

Ainz rolled his eyes, 'Great, that didn't take long.' He thought, but there was no help for it.

"Enter." Ainz said, forcing the frustration from his voice.

The pair entered, they'd had a long working relationship that spanned most of the war and in the years since, Vanysa's fondness for sandwiches had resulted in the reopening of her shops, which as they'd grown in popularity, became the hubs of intelligence activity. This made her, despite the lack of a more elevated title, the de facto head of his intelligence operations, a job she excelled at when not assisting Demiurge in his research, where he praised her contributions. Thus Ainz had accidentally combined the two branches of Research and Intelligence, and it yielded unexpected fruits as the two collaborated. Her reports and methods improved with his contributions, and his research paths redoubled and yielded increased fruits as a result of her own participation. Not a bad outcome given he had only done it by accident when he noticed the pair worked well and enjoyed mutual interests.

They bowed deeply, "My Lord, I understand you've moved up your plan, truly a wise decision, as expected of the Supreme Leader." Demiurge said enthusiastically.

"How can we help, My Lord?" Vanysa asked with similar eagerness, bowing low enough to ensure she gave him a chance to 'look', she smirked when she noticed that he did so. He doubted that would ever change. No matter whether she held the form of a demoness, as she now did, or whether she kept the form he first met her in, that of a buxom blonde human.

Ainz coughed at a moment of discomfort as he turned away from his 'glimpse' that the demoness had given to him. He quickly ran them through the planned events, and when he finished it all, he got to their part. "Such a demand creates an additional opportunity. Out of each graduating class, a handful should be selected and approached as the chance to serve as 'agents', what the First World called 'sleepers'. They would have no immediate task, not have a requirement to report to us regularly, but only to do their jobs. Such persons will only act if their employer is engaged in some form of activity that marks their intent to rebel or pose a threat to Nazarick's interests in some other way. These selected personnel will be trained here within the tomb as agents. I want you to select a few of those you currently have in your employ within your restaurant headquarters for that purpose. In this way we will have eyes within every great noble house in the empire. Questions?" He asked the demoness.

"None, My Lord, it is brilliant." She said enthusiastically.

"When you capture the guilty," Ainz paused to let the lust for her other amusements wash over her face and vanish, "they are to be routed to Demiurge for use in his experiments, ensure you have an established system for turning over such assets, and follow it accordingly. The two of you should work together on that, but ultimately the path of research falls to Demiurge to decide." Ainz added.

"Demiurge, any questions?" Ainz asked.

"None sire, though since I am here, I should inform you that we're making excellent progress on the morphomantic item, we should be ready for live trials within five years." Demiurge said enthusiastically. "With additional assets ferreted out by the first graduates, we may easily have enough to produce a functional item by then."

"Excellent, I realize the two of you have been working hard lately, and when possible I will see to it that you're given a short vacation as a reward." Ainz said happily.

The pair were about to speak when Ainz cut them off, "Don't say serving me is its own reward, instead, go forth and serve, and enjoy time at ease when it comes." He said as pleasantly as possible.

The pair bowed, and he gestured to the office door. "You are dismissed, I have work to do." He said as he struck 'busy emperor pose number nine' and bent back over the paper on his desk without really reading it.

They swiftly departed, and as the door shut behind them, he could hear them chattering excitedly. He sighed as he caught more mentions of the twenty-thousand year plan. In no time, that would be everywhere in the tomb. It made him eager for the battles in the arena, nothing truly significant that he could recall, ever came from casual words there.

-end chapter-


	2. A Journey of a Thousand Miles

Acting in Good Faith

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 2: A Journey of a Thousand Miles

...

It was several months before everything was ready at the first established Servant Academy. Building the facility had been easy. Ainz tended to that himself through the same magic he had used to raise the arena at Carne. Yuri Alpha labored tirelessly with the help of Pestonya and Nigredo to find those of the orphan population interested in the service career who were also of suitable temperament and nature for it. Yuri Alpha rubbed her forehead with her thumb and forefinger.

"This is harder than I expected it to be, Sebas." She said in a tired voice as she looked at the list of applicants.

Sebas looked back one more time, the door was firmly shut, it was the only way she could relax enough to show her frustration to him. "Is it? What did you expect? For humans, steady, safe, well paying work was always scarce. Now here before people who under the old system would have been beggars, criminals, or fodder, is a chance at an education and secure employment that may last a lifetime. Did you think it would be ignored?" He asked rhetorically.

"No, but... so many are just not qualified. It was one thing to train 'a' maid. Tuare worked hard to get to where she is today, but an entire school of butlers and maids, let alone an empire wide network?" Yuri shook her head, "Had anyone but Lord Ainz commanded this, I would think it an impossible task to separate the wheat from the chaff here."

"You are focused on the wrong thing, Yuri Alpha." Sebas said patiently.

"What do you mean?" She asked hopefully, looking up from the desk after he spoke.

"Instead of saying 'It can't be done', you 'ask' instead, 'what is necessary to do it?' then request those tools you need. Remember when the Lizardmen defeated Cocytus? The matter was a test for him, so that he would learn to investigate more, to find out more of what he needed and request it accordingly. Defeat there was the mother of a thousand victories, and he has not been beaten since. So... Yuri Alpha, what do you need in order to succeed?" Sebas asked with slow and easy patience.

Yuri Alpha thought it over briefly, rapping her fingers on the table, she looked away in thought. "I need a way to determine who is more serious about a life of service, versus those just looking for safe, easy work."

"You already have that." Sebas pointed out.

"I do?" She asked, her face did not register surprise, remaining firmly neutral, her voice however, revealed doubt at least.

"You do. I know every orphanage has had volunteer programs for children there to render help to the staff. Such candidates who have performed in those roles already demonstrate drive to improve life for others." He said confidently, "They bear out their natures of good servants by their actions."

"I need to determine who has the organized nature and intelligence required for household administration." She added thoughtfully, gesturing to the stack of applicants.

"Request teacher recommendations, all orphans attend classes, who better than their teachers to say who is organized and capable in the ways you require?" Sebas pointed out sharply. "Anything else?" He probed with a raised eyebrow.

"What about all the qualities required of servants in those fields? Discretion, calmness under pressure, ability to learn new skills, and so on?" She asked him with a little frown.

"We ask them to rate themselves and their peers, the Supreme Beings had these kinds of evaluations done all the time. I remember my creator talking about it once with Lord Peroroncino and Lord Momonga. If this tool worked for them, surely it will work here. So if we have them rate themselves, and each other, on all the relevant skills and character traits, you should come away with a workable list of candidates for the first hundred students. Remember this is a generational investment, the first graduates will become the staff of educators in time. The curriculum taught in the orphan schools can be adjusted to look for and cultivate the right qualities over time. Getting this started is the hardest part, but you 'do' have the tools to succeed." Sebas said with emphatic confidence and a firm look.

"You're not the Head Butler of Nazarick for nothing." She said with great relief. "Alright, I'll get started on those steps right away. Thank you for coming to hear me out." Yuri Alpha said appreciatively as she wrote down what Sebas suggested.

Jorin walked the streets of E-Rantel as he always did on his day off, his pocket full of shiny, clinky coins, his spirits high as he walked out of his small but comfortable home, a twinkle in his brown eyes. All was right with his world. He fairly bounced as he walked to his favorite tavern, being a human guard in E-Rantel was good work, it paid well, the risk was low, the time off was plentiful. The sun was shining overhead as he walked the clean, busy streets of the greatest city in the world, or so he thought of it as.

He passed a massive death knight and waved to it out of polite habit, it ignored him, they ignored anything that was not a threat, pausing only to block traffic for passersby at the safety crossings or to point a direction out to a tourist who managed to get up the courage to speak to one.

Jorin waved to a dwarf as he neared his destination, that one sat drinking at one of the outdoor cafes that populated this district, he waved back, unlike the death knight. The first indication that anything was unique as he walked into the tavern was that a crier was in place of a bard and a crowd stood near the posting board.

"A holiday to be declared, paid leave guaranteed with a bonus from the Sorcerer King to all civil servants!" The crier, a slender woman with a voice that called attention to her like the bells did to the temples when summoned the devout to worship.

Jorin's already large smile got even larger. "What's the occasion?!" He shouted the question eagerly as he pushed himself between the people of the crowd to get to the front.

"To further the wellbeing of the young of the empire and ensure their future, several service academies are being founded. These academies will train butlers, maids, and the legions of specialists required to properly attend key leaders around the Sorcerous Empire. In order to commemorate the opening of each facility, during the inspection tours of the Sorcerer King, Momon and Nabe of Darkness will be taking on all challengers in arena exhibitions. The holiday is to allow maximum attendance." She said with an infectiously enthusiastic smile that spread over her face. Her rosy cheeks glowed and they could not help but feel the same genuine happiness she felt.

Jorin joined the cheers and went to check out the schedule details on the flier she pointed out after delivering her news. As he read over the details when he managed to get close, only one thought came to mind. 'I wouldn't miss this for the world.' The very next day, he put in his vacation request.

...Re-Estize...

Pandora's Actor looked in the mirror he kept in his treasury room quarters. He made a minor adjustment to the way his cape fell behind him. "Das ist gut. So hab ich das gern." He said decisively.

"What is?" Nabe asked as she walked into his room without knocking.

He rolled his eyes. "You would not understand, mein Fräulein. A true actor," his voice rose and he struck a dramatic pose with one finger thrust into the air, "is always aware of the perfection of his image!"

She snorted. "What does it matter? For the supreme ones I could not agree more," she paced over to where he stood and folded her arms in front of herself, "but we go before gnats, knaves, and non-entities. What the twins refer to as 'talking rocks'. Who cares what they have to say or what they think? They should be grateful that they're good enough to be worth killing."

Pandora's Actor took off the 'Momon helmet' that he wore, revealing the deep tanned face beneath so that she could read his serious expression. His eyes met hers and he replied in a profoundly serious voice, "Do you say my father possesses only trash?"

She met his gaze with a cold one of her own, "A bagworm is a bagworm no matter who owns it. I am sure Lord Ainz knows best, but their value to him I have never understood."

"You should." He said dramatically and leveled a finger at her. "You have been out as often as I have or more! You have seen that there are those who are capable of devotion nearly on par with our own. What of Neia, she served as a conduit for father's power and nearly destroyed herself to make him known as the god he is to all the world. Weak or not, has she not served loyally?" Though his voice began with a dramatic tone to match his gesture, he closed with a softly asked, rhetorical question.

"An exception that proves the rule. When I first met her she was exterminating deserving insects with zeal. Had all humans done the same I might credit their worth, as it is, a fleck of gold stands out in the dirt precisely because it is so rare." Nabe said bluntly. "Your 'sister' as you have taken to calling her, is not the norm. The norm, are dirt." She said with conviction.

"She and those like her are not gold, but flowers in a garden." He said confidently.

"What?" She asked dubiously.

"The world beyond is like a garden, yes there is much dirt there, that is as you say, but the dirt is needed for the flowers to take root and grow, that they may please the supreme one as is proper. Perhaps the dirt is merely trampled beneath father's feet, but it provides the means by which the flowers which please him best may come into bloom. However, even the dirt beneath us all, must be given its due."

Nabe snorted dismissively again and just stared back at him, unconvinced. It was not their oldest dispute, having begun only after Pandora's Actor had returned from the last siege of Prart. However, it was one of the few they had never really settled. Pandora's Actor sighed, also dramatically and put his helmet back on. "What brings you to me, anyway? We are not due in Re-Estize for hours."

"There is a request by the Outer Guardian of Re-Estize that we attend a ball before our public appearances at the arena." Narberal Gamma said with evident annoyance in her voice. "The planarians want a chance to share their squeaks and grunts at us, then boast of the trash on their tables before we do the real work."

"I see," Pandora's Actor remarked, "well do remember father's instructions. Be polite, even if you have to act. They may be small, and weak, and fragile, yet he has found worth in their service to him. In addition, he has found worthy ones among them deserving of elevation."

"Of course, 'Lord Momon'." She replied with a hint of a smirk on her face.

Pandora's Actor rolled his eyes behind the helmet. 'Will my fellow doppelganger never truly understand the power and pleasure of a grand performance?' He wondered, then said as he pointed dramatically to his door, "Then we must away! Off to conquer hearts and minds for father's eternal glory!"

"Of course, 'Lord Momon' but... we don't need the door." She replied, as the gate opened behind him.

"Never underestimate the power of pointing dramatically." He replied as he unhappily lowered his arm. 'I am not a gambling doppelganger, but I would wager a magic handball that she arranged for Lady Shalltear to open the gate in a direction I would not be pointing, just to ruin that moment.' He thought, and then turned around and walked confidently through the gate, followed quickly by a smirking Narberal Gamma.

...Re-Estize...

When Pandora's Actor arrived with Narberal Gamma, it was into a grand ballroom that was richly decorated by human standards. Long high stairs led to upper floors, and on either side there were other rooms of equal size that were just as richly decorated. Large mirrors reflected the opulent dress of the many noble guests who moved about the room with grace and poise. Grand busts showcased the glorious visages of past kings and queens. Faint string instruments set light music about the room that entertained without overwhelming the ability of others to converse.

Large scale seating was arranged in the wings opposite the central room into which they'd stepped, but small scale seating remained available here for the 'older' nobles to make use of should they require it. Few did. Because few of the old nobles were still alive.

The reason that so few were still alive was at the top of the grand staircase leading to the area beyond the ballroom. King Zanac, Outer Guardian Renner, the Royal Consort, Climb... and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Marquis Raeven. But behind them loomed the impossible figure that made their work fruitful, their divine lord, Ainz Ooal Gown.

Team Darkness knelt as soon as they saw the lord they served, and the party descended the stairs. Those who likewise saw them appear, called the room to notice, and nobles of great and low station alike knelt as the highest descended the stairs to join them.

Only the distant accompanying sound of stringed instruments punctuated their descent, and when they finally reached the base of the stairs, King Zanac took on his role as host, saying, "Rise, guests and enjoy my hospitality. May this mark the next stage in the growth and prosperity of our already glorious history."

"Yes, with this step, the opening of this school, all nobles of the Sorcerous Empire will benefit from improved service, on par with what they all truly deserve." Ainz added, complementing the words of his vassal. Polite applause followed.

Renner smiled sweetly, her eyes white as death and her wings wrapped around her body as if they were clothing. The archangel exuded a kind of holy light that had her consort transfixed still, his affection was almost palpable, making them both the envy of those romantically inclined hearts among the courtiers.

Pandora's Actor looked over the boy who wasn't. Climb had grown up, tall and broad shouldered, yet he still had a boyish face but a strong jaw to match it, which was partially hidden behind a well-maintained blonde beard.

The Marquis Raeven wore a relaxed expression with a gentle smile, small on his long angular face, his hands folded into one another at the small of his back, he walked straight and proud. Yet for all that he appeared at ease in a way that, once upon a time, he thought impossible.

Zanac was thinner now than he had been, though he remained a little rounder than he might have liked, and he retained a very unkingly face, voice, and body. Still he spoke with a clarity and sincerity, such that when they fanned out, he was able to easily approach other nobles and set them quickly at ease.

As Ainz watched the somewhat chubby monarch work, he could not help but feel a sense of satisfaction. 'A man thrust into a role he was never prepared for and never expected to hold, who looked wholly unfit for his role, and yet he's found his stride.' He thought back to the way he'd watched Jircniv to learn more about how to be a proper monarch himself, now he watched Zanac and saw a hint of how he at least felt himself to have been before the years of practice bore fruit in his eyes.

Renner approached Narberal Gamma and held out her hand palm up, Narberal placed her own hand into it, and they clasped together. Renner smiled warmly, Narberal... gave only the slightest hint of a shifted expression of welcome. A smile came and went as fast as dust being carried on a high wind.

"Good to see you again, Nabe." Renner said happily.

"And you." Nabe responded, she meant it. The ruthlessness of the pair and their mutual distaste for common humans made for pleasant company between them, and eager to be away from the need to 'act' as 'Momon' was now doing, she allowed the Outer Guardian to lead her away to a table where they could speak without being disturbed.

Momon approached Climb and held out his hand. Climb took it and they shook firmly, though shorter than the massive Momon, it was a good grip, as humans could manage it. "It has been some time, Royal Consort." He said in a deep and somewhat amused voice.

Climb chuckled at the use of his title, "It has, when was it last we spoke face to face... the noodle incident?"

"Yes, that. Terrible name, but... accurate. That was the last time, you've changed much, grown much. Gazef would be proud of who you've become. I'm sure of that." Momon said confidently as he clapped Climb on the shoulder with his free hand. "I knew him only by reputation, but Lord Sebas, Unglaus, and His Majesty have all agreed that you have surpassed his expectations."

Climb's body trembled a little at the unexpected praise as a well of mourning for his lost mentor rose up in him, then washed away like a sandcastle being carried away by the tide until it could be rebuilt again. "Thank you, Lord Momon. That means a great deal to me, coming from 'all' of you."

Momon looked around, the Sorcerer King had moved to another room, "Including to know it comes from the man who killed him?" He asked in surprise.

Climb gave a nod of acknowledgement. "There was a time when it might not have, but what he has done for my people, all people... these are all things my mentor would have cried tears of joy to see. Because of him I can have my princess. And though he killed him, well, Gazef was a warrior, violent deaths are a matter of course for that line of work. The Sorcerer King treated him respectfully right to the end, and returned his body and all his treasures. A warrior's death and due reverence are not to be ignored. So to be held in some esteem, however minor, is high praise. Even if he did kill Gazef."

Pandora's Actor sighed with relief within his mind, 'Good lad, stay loyal, stay safe.' He thought to himself.

-end chapter-

**AN: First let me thank everybody for their critique of my previous chapter. This particular story is kind of an experiment for me, never written one quite like it, but you've got to step out of your comfort zone to progress so... here I go. :) Incidentally to the one who thought I wrote 'Bust' Momon's reputation, I said 'BOOST'. And to you I must ask... what 'are' you doing reading my work so persistently simply to tell me to stop? I cannot 'hurt' the Light Novels, no matter what I do. The very worst I could do is write terrible stories that then nobody reads because they were terrible. :D That said, I think my work is generally fairly good. So... thanks for reading and all, sort of, but a constructive critique is much more valuable.**

**For those of you who 'already' enjoy my work, well here is a short excerpt from 'Scales of Trust' an original work available on my discord. You can support my attempt at becoming a full time writer on pat-reon at slash tellingstories:**

_Archos drew closer to the shore and stood up, he started to walk towards them, and glared long and silent, letting his maw fall open and expose his sharp teeth, then for good measure he drew the royal blade from his back and held it in front of him. This was one language understood everywhere. _

_The small band of little beings began to back away, grabbing their wounded and pulling them away from him, he simply stood and stared, until they broke and fled like the defeated ones before them just a few moments earlier._

_Only the wounded of the defeated band remained, as well as the dead of both sides. When the victors had fled, Archos stepped from the shore and looked around for movement, a few stirred enough to cry out, including one young woman with a badly wounded arm, a broken leg, and both eyes shut from bruising and blood where she'd been pummelled. She was small, even relative to the others, but she had obviously fought fiercely, given the ring of dead around her, and that endeared her to him. Her ferocity and skill so endeared him in fact, that he resolved to treat her first, and so he took her hand from the one good arm she still had, and touched it to him. "Archos" He said._


	3. The Display

Acting in Good Faith

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 3:

...Re-Estize Capital...Palace Ballroom...

Pandora's Actor was enjoying himself. He got to 'act' which was his passion. When he held out his hand to a lady of the court as the music began, they took to dancing. He smiled happily as he did so. The slow and rhythmic sound of instruments set the pace, and his feet found it easily, her dainty hands in clean white gloves held onto him, one in his left hand, one on his right shoulder, while his free arm went round her waist to guide her as he led.

Unsurprisingly, though many had begun to dance, as the music continued, he saw that the crowd of others were fewer and fewer, until all eyes were on the famous hero. His feet moved with ease in a steady step around the grand ballroom. The clean cream colored walls were covered in candles that gave a dancing light and an orange glow to the entire room, it felt almost like magic without mana. There was only the music, the moment, and the woman before him.

The woman was, by human standards, beautiful, with long snow white hair, despite her obvious youth, a fresh young face that was red at the cheeks in a blush even without any makeup for the effect. Her eyes sparkled green and she was obviously drawn to him. She was small and fragile compared to his considerable size, obviously of good family. 'Were I truly what I pretended to be, well, she would be quite the catch for a hero.' Pandora's Actor reflected.

Eventually he caught sight of Nabe against the wall, she simply looked bored, rejecting numerous invitations to take part in the next dance, because her eyes were only upon himself, he knew what it was. 'She's less than pleased with me at the moment, but what of it? Mein Vater has commanded that I play this role to the hilt, she really should learn to enjoy humans more. Or at least be a proper doppelganger and learn to play at it!' He kept the smirk to his imagination, no doubt rumors were going to swirl around quickly about her infatuation with her partner to the exclusion of all others.

When the music finally ended, he stepped back while retaining one hand on that of the lady, and bowed, she lifted one side of her dress and fell into a little half curtsey, and applause filled the room.

"You're quite the dancer, Sir Momon." She said in a refined, noble accent that spoke of a studious education.

Pandora's Actor flashed a winning smile. "I am a warrior, My Lady, combat is a kind of dance, the rhythm and music may differ, and it is always bad for someone, but otherwise, it is the same, and I flatter myself to say I have some small skill." He winked at her and she tittered at his self-effacing manner. Over her shoulder he saw Nabe striding, nay, 'almost' stalking across the dance floor, he wanted to sigh, but kept the pretense up.

"Forgive me, My Lady, but my partner appears to require something." He said evenly, and stepped aside to allow her to make her exit after one more brief curtsey.

"Aren't you supposed to give a speech, Momon?" Narberal Gamma asked with a kind of controlled bluntness to match her icy stare.

"Yes, of course, but we are guests, and must observe the traditions of our hosts, besides, this better serves all requirements, putting an enthusiastic mood on all who stand to benefit most from the current project." He said patiently as he put a hand to her shoulder.

"Yes, of course." She replied abruptly, "Excuse me." She said, and swiftly departed, putting him at her back as she went off to find some isolated space for herself.

She made her way out of the ballroom as fast as she could without making a spectacle of herself. She was so expeditious in her exit that she didn't notice the look Climb gave her as she passed him by.

He, however, unlike most others, was fairly good at detecting agitation in a combat veteran. 'That doesn't look good, I should find out what's wrong.' Climb thought to himself as his eyes followed her swift exit.

He stepped away from his position on the periphery of high society and pursued her past the great high stairs and down the hall that led to the glass doors which opened out into a side garden.

The doors shut behind her and she was gone down the stairs with shocking speed for someone who was merely walking. Still, he followed her as well as he could until he passed through the doors themselves and looked around for where she might be. The gardens were immaculate now. For a moment the memory returned of their utterly wrecked state from Philip's short occupation. The filth, the garbage, the lack of care thanks to his stinginess, the great hedges that had stood for centuries that had been left to neglect... he did not want to dwell on the memory, but briefly he wondered what happened to the former rebel. 'Nothing good, I'll bet.' He thought and shuddered at the possibilities.

"Why are you following me, tick?" Nabe asked in scathing tone.

Climb looked around furtively.

"Down here, insect." She said with annoyance, and he looked over the rail next to the steps, she was leaning against the wall.

"How did you know?" Climb asked as he walked slowly down the steps, he was more professionally curious than anything else, but he still took his time about it, 'friendliness' was not something she was known for.

"Because, flea, you are as subtle as a pack of chirping crickets." Nabe answered without bothering to look at him.

"Oh." It was all he could say, he blushed a bit as he strode down the steps.

"Your answer, bagworm?" She asked.

He came around the steps after he descended them and stopped a short way out of immediate reach.

"Just thought you looked a little uncomfortable, I thought I should check on you." Climb replied.

Nabe grunted indifferently and folded her arms in front of her. "So what, termite?" She looked away as her eyes scanned the garden.

"I've been in places like this before, and uncomfortable with the nobles, they're... sometimes troubling, and even if the purges got rid of the worst of them, I still don't like many." Climb admitted with some exasperation.

"I don't like... crowds of insects." She replied as she looked over at him, as if deciding his comment about a shared distaste let him merit a bone of commentary.

Climb nodded sympathetically, he gave a wan smile to her and replied, "I understand, ah, why don't I just make some excuse for you being away from the main hall for awhile, nobody will mind."

Her expression didn't change, but as she responded with, "Thank you." He could feel certain that even under that flat tone of voice, she meant it.

"Of course." He said and left her alone.

He returned just in time to listen to Momon speak.

"...For too long you who guide the fate of the population have been ill served, as all have, by those who knew not the vital craft of service! The art of service was treated as if it required no more grace or knowledge than it took to dig a hole! Are you not above the dirt, do you not deserve to be well tended by those dedicated to a life of service as more than a mere chore performed out of fear or greed? Should you not be provided the gift of servants dedicated to their roles as a lifelong vocation, who count it a true honor to perform the many tasks that make it easier for you to rule well?!" Momon's voice carried throughout the hall, and he held their attention raptly, gesturing boldly with his hand and a pointed finger.

"I have been rewarded by the gift of experiencing such service first hand in the hall of the Sorcerer King's home, and I tell you that what is being offered transcends the common experience given by simply throwing a uniform on the illiterate and graceless! Therefore I hope you will observe closely as the maids of His Majesty put their skills on display for you during the exhibition tomorrow. You may harbor doubts about the value of such a school, but when the sun sets, you will be eager to send your servants to learn, or to hire those who are educated there, and you will wonder how you ever did without them!"

Climb waited until the opportune moment, and approached Momon when he was finally alone to explain about Nabe's absence. "Yes, that sounds like her." He said with a roll of his eyes. "A more skilled partner I could not ask for, yet when it comes to..." he opened his arms briefly to encompass the gathering, "this, she is hopeless." He sighed and gave his head a little shake, "Thank you for telling me, Climb. I'll find her later."

"I- ah, was happy to be of service, Sir Momon." Climb answered, hero worship shone in his eyes, which became something of a blush when Momon inclined his head in a polite bow.

The curtain closed on the performance of Pandora's Actor as the ball gradually wound down, and he retrieved his partner in performance and made their return to their quarters. "Truly I wish you could get into the spirit of these things."

Nabe just eyeballed him with her arms crossed. "No." She finally said.

Pandora's Actor made a show of his disappointment, letting his arms hang down as he slumped and looked down at the floor. "Just 'try' to not be such a killjoy over these things."

A flash of inspiration hit her as her annoyance with the melodramatic Pandora's Actor started to rise, "At least I will not upstage your performance." She replied.

He perked up, "That is true!" he straightened sharply and thrust a finger skyward as if he'd come up with the realization on his own. "Very well, be yourself, just... not so much yourself that you offend anyone, this 'is' at least somewhat a diplomatic situation!" He cautioned her patiently.

"Very well." She answered in turn before pursing her lips tightly together, signalling the end of her willingness to converse.

He departed somewhat happier than he'd been at the start, but not so much so as he hoped he'd be.

As he left her quarters, Nabe rubbed her temple in a long suffering manner. "This is for the glory of Lord Ainz, for he, the last of the Supreme beings, I will endure anything, but... some things are more bearable than others."

Morning of the following day came far faster than she would have liked, but she focused upon the important things. This time at least, she did not have to deal with Pandora's Actor alone at least, they marched through the gate with a bevy of Nazarick Maids in tow.

The spectacular beauties drew even more attention than the adamantite adventuring team when they appeared in the designated place before the arena. For most arena matches, there was no procession, no ceremony to speak of, but as it was a performance by legendary heroes, the notion of 'not' having one was jaw droppingly foolish.

So the nobles arrayed themselves with pomp and ceremony and fine clothing, and the maids of Nazarick walked beside them, tending to their every need, the women moved with grace beyond the ability of dancers, indeed every step seemed as if touching the ground was an option, such was the fluidity of their every step and gesture.

While it was the nobles who were attended by the bevy of impossibly graceful beauties, the maids of Nazarick caught the eyes of those merely observing the procession to the arena, wealthy merchants, social elites who peddled influence through coin or industry, were suddenly made ashamed of the lackluster services of their households.

Yet this was not the end, at least not for the nobles, as they arrived at the upper floors of the arena, where the large open box seating was backed by tables covered in refreshments.

As the first round of fighting began, between some of the lowest ranked adventurers and trainees, Pandora's Actor had to only watch as the perfect movements of the maids and their dedicated attentiveness kept the nobles enthralled even more than the combat did.

"How do they do that?" A marquis asked breathlessly to no one in particular as a maid approached and offered him a selection of beverages.

Having overheard him, Pandora's Actor chose to reply, "I asked the same question, good sir, it's an art called 'Seeing Through Walls'."

"They teach maids to see through walls?" He gasped in disbelief, his wide eyes staring up at the hero.

Pandora's Actor put a hand to his chest and threw his head back to laugh, "No, no, My Lord. That is just what they call it, it's basically a skill that teaches them to anticipate the needs of the one they are to serve, to notice their daily routines and little gestures that indicate preferences and desire. I would hazard a guess that she saw you glance at the drinks a little longer than one normally does when simply 'noticing' that something is present. She therefore anticipated you would soon want one, and because she saw where you looked, she guessed your look fell to the things you liked."

"It's... like magic, but without mana." He said as his face lit up with a smile of pure happiness. "Is this what it means to have a true maid? What 'have' I been living with for my whole life?" He shook his head in disbelief as a match below ended.

'Momon' laughed lightly, "Please do not judge your own servants too harshly, how could they know to be better, with none to teach them, no standard to live up to, no mentor to guide them, and no expectations of merit to measure themselves against? Just as you learned how to govern by being taught, so too must they learn to serve by being taught by those who know it best."

The generosity of spirit and the truth of his words cut deep within the nobleman, and his words were loud enough to be heard by others nearby, such that conversation, normally bent towards the battles in the arena, turned instead toward the cost and measures necessary to send their own butlers and maids to the academy being founded by the Sorcerer King.

That was the way things went as the fights grew more and more advanced, until of course it came close to the time for Darkness to engage with their opponents. "Wish us luck!" Pandora's Actor replied dramatically. Nabe, predictably enough, said nothing, she simply left the place where she'd been keeping herself... away from the many insects she reviled, and followed after Pandora's Actor while keeping her face as neutral as she could.

Drums began to beat around the arena as the champions of humanity entered. Pandora's Actor drew his twin blades and held them aloft, he crossed them dramatically while Nabe pretended not to notice. He savored the cheers of the crowd when he was announced. This... this had all eyes on them. He leaned over to Nabe and whispered softly, "Remember, make it a good show, be sporting about it, this has to boost Momon's reputation."

"Doesn't that mean... winning easily?" She asked dryly.

"No, it means winning with style." Pandora's Actor replied.

"Now, for their opponents! By special permission of His Majesty himself... Death Knights!"

A hush fell over the crowd as two death knights walked through the raised gate on the other side of the arena.

Malice, overwhelming malice. That was the aura the hulking legendary monsters exuded as they entered, stamping over the sands of the arena as if they owned them. Their great tower shields and their massive blades facing their enemies to be. The sun was now high in the sky, and the warm air that blew over the arena began to slow, as if the air itself wanted to stay to watch the engagement.

To the pride of the crowd, the champions of humanity displayed no fear in the face of bodies that might have been made from fear itself.

For a moment the four faced one another, and the thousands of spectators took it in, and then the announcer called out... "Begin!"

Pandora's Actor took the offensive by charging forward, where others would flee, and some would defend, the hero of humanity would charge forward, bold and brave against all threats and dangers. Behind him, they watched as the Beautiful Princess Nabe sent lightning at her opponents that seemed strong enough to cause the air to catch fire.

Momon however, stole the show, he leaped into the air and spun in a powerful flip that brought the brunt of his sword down against a Death Knight shield and sent it staggering backwards, then dropped beneath the slash of another, dropped one sword, grabbed the bottom of the great tower shield, and lifted it up so he was inside the guard of the undead monster. With a heroic laugh that only those who loved their craft could give, he pushed the Death Knight backwards, step by step before awestruck eyes, until it slammed hard against the stone wall of the arena, cracking the stone.

However the previous undead had begun to move in earnest, and it continued to advance through the power of her lightning. Gasps escaped the mouths of the crowd as people tried to shout useless warnings.

Finally it drew close and raised its sword to strike, would she move, surely? But she didn't, she only kept her attack up, such heedless reckless, tranquil courage all but broke the hearts of the crowd with it's impossibly noble beauty. Only for the raised sword to not fall.

Momon had broken his engagement with the last death knight to return to the first, he grabbed it by the sword arm before the blade could fall, and pulled it back with such force that the monster landed on its back. "You will not touch her!" He shouted passionately, and thousands of hearts nearly burst from the declaration, and watched as his heavy armored foot rose, and fell hard on the Death Knight's face, stomping down with an audible crunch as the head was utterly destroyed, and the monster grew still.

This seemed to breath new life into the remaining monster, and it moved with the swiftness of shadows cast by fire to confront the hero head on, so began the muscle match, sword met sword as Momon clashed with it, dodging when necessary as he beat it back to where his weapon had been dropped, he kicked the monster hard in it's shield, pushing it back a crucial step and buying the seconds he needed to retrieve the loose weapon. Nabe's lightning strike gained a twin, and the dried up flesh of the monster caught fire, forcing Momon to fight a flaming Death Knight, yet he did not flinch.

With two swords in place of one, he fought on equal terms with it, blocking, parrying, and slamming into it over and over, until at last he managed to land a blow that connected firmly to the arm of the undead being, as the protective flesh was burning away, he struck bone and cut the arm clean off. The sword fell and the Death Knight froze for an instant as it looked down at the arm that landed, useless in the sand, as if it could not understand how it had gotten there.

It never got the time to answer the question, as Momon jumped to put his blade equal to the neck of the monster, and spun his blade in to sever head from body, and sending it bouncing and rolling over the sand.

The body stood still for just a moment, then fell down, lingering for a moment on its knees, supported by the tower shield, until Momon gave it a very small shove, and it fell back, landing with a powerful thud to the sands of the arena, which was heard in every seat.

Cheers erupted at the stupendous showing, and Momon held his blades aloft and gave the victory cheer.

Nabe shrugged and put her hands behind her back, clasping them together indifferently as if she'd always known they would win.

"It wouldn't hurt to smile, you know, play to the crowd?" He whispered.

"Yes, it would." She replied bluntly.

He sighed, "No matter, I have enough panache for the both of us." He said with growing enthusiasm as he picked up the death knight's head and held it aloft, redoubling the cheers of the awed and admiring crowd.


	4. Accidental Good Ideas

"Das war gut." Pandora's Actor remarked as he sat at the table in Nazarick's bar across from Naberal Gamma. He pushed a drink across the smooth dark wooden surface.

Naberal wore her customarily blank expression that was, for her, the same as happiness. She accepted the drink graciously and finished it quickly.

"Impressing ants is always easy. All you have to do is step on them." She replied in her usual derisive tone as the cup came down to the table.

"I have no more love for the average human than you, but contempt for those our father rules is tantamount to contempt for the empire he builds." Pandora's Actor pointed out, tapping his forefinger on the table with some impatience.

Her face flushed and her lips pursed with annoyance. For a long moment she lingered, and then slowly stood. "Ants are ants, ticks are ticks. Our lord is better than what he rules, and that is how it should be." She walked out without another word.

Pandora's Actor let out a melodramatic sigh as he glanced around to see who else was drinking. Off in the corner, he saw his erstwhile 'client' drinking with her equally erstwhile persecutor. With nothing else going on, he rose from the table, approached the bar, ordered a few rounds, and taking up his own drink, strode smoothly over the floor and clapped Neia on the shoulder. "Meine wundervolle Schwester!" He said, holding his drink aloft in a traditional friendly greeting.

Neia craned her head back and looked up, not that she needed to, and flashed him a toothy, half drunk smile.

"Heya!" Neia lazily waved her hand to the chair at her right hand. Black, batlike wings flapped pleasantly as the gold skinned demoness drank a bright green drink.

She waved with equal laziness, but said nothing as she was clearly enjoying her beverage.

"Here for the annual draining?" Pandora's Actor inquired as he pulled the chair out and sat down with one arm flung easily back behind himself and his legs stretched comfortably out in front.

"Yep." Neia held the necklace out reverentially in her palm. "Since the trial a few years ago, gotta get this thing emptied like clockwork. Do some prophecies in an official status…" She shut her eyes and took a long, long swig, then lowered the cup to the table and the pendant of the necklace down over her breast.

"Father has not required this of you." Pandora's Actor said, his faceless form could not frown, but the tone of doubt and the fact that he leaned forward to say it, was reproof enough.

"Tell me bout it." Vanysa grumbled. "She does it every time she comes here, I write em down, then she screams until the pain stops. She got a nice singin voice but…" The demoness shrugged. "I done tole her she doesn't have ta do that none, but she insists."

"Why?" Pandora's Actor all but demanded he rapped his fingers on the table over and over again as the first round of drinks he'd ordered were brought and laid out, then stopped when they were alone again.

"Because it will help. I'll never go on campaign again. But I'm not needed. My children are growing stronger every day, by the time the terror of the east comes west, our little ones will be ready to rip the east to shreds. But it is a big world, and there will be many centuries before father and mother take the world in hand. This is my gift to the future, and to them." Neia smiled happily, broadly.

"Pain stops, but one day, in the years ahead, maybe a long time from now, when I'm gone, father will be told of what I've left him. He'll be told where he can find it and what it is, and I can serve those I love for centuries beyond my lifetime." She gave a serene, comfortable, and slightly drunken smile. "Don't tell father or mother, alright?" She asked as she took up the next cup and started to drink.

Pandora's Actor tapped his fingers on the table, "Very well, but you must be here for more than that."

"The drinks." Neia grinned and lifted her cup. "I get to see father and mother here once a year, drink, and after the draining is done, try out a new model of necklace. "Mother bleeds for me each year to help keep my pain at bay, just a drop, but still. But why are 'you' here? Aren't you working on something for father, the new maid and butler system?"

Pandora's Actor looked over to Vanysa, "You've informed her, I assume?"

"Of course." She grinned through drunken, glassy eyes, "Our pope here, her temples run mosta the orphanages throughout the ole Slane Theocracy, if'n we want the most loyal, we gots to ask her ta find out. Sides, she's the king's daughter, ain't nobody outside this place that weren't made by him, more trustworthy than she is." Vanysa took a long, deep drink and slammed it down, smacking her lips happily. "Absinthe… this stuff is amazin."

"Yes, well… I'm…" Pandoras actor flung his arms up in a sudden yielding to his frustration. "I'm exhausted. How can I play off against those who not only have no passion for their act, but who actively hate the audience?!"

Neia raised her stone cup to her lips and drank it down, "Pick a new audience?" She smirked as she tilted her head a little in wry amusement.

Pandora's Actor raised his finger to her to retort, and froze in midgesture. "das ist genial!"

He shot to his feet, bowed politely to the two women, and strode swiftly across the room and out the door which closed sharply behind him.

"Where's he goin?" Vanysa asked as she cocked her head to one side.

Neia shrugged, "No idea… now… where'sat book you promised me. Kama somethin'or other? Said it'd make my wife really happy."

...Dwarven Kingdom...Two Days Later…

Ainz stood in front of the capital building of the dwarven kingdom. Gondo bowed deeply to his liege with one arm in front of his stomach and the other out to one side. "Welcome to the home of your most loyal subjects, majesty." His voice was as passionate as ever, even after years of service, his eyes practically shined in the presence of the savior of his craft.

"Thank you, Gondo. As you've made it in time to welcome me, I assume you know why I'm here." Ainz said in his lordly voice and pulled 'Grand Intentions Gesture #7' sweeping his arm out to encompass the whole of the realm.

"Yes your majesty, the matter of servants, I've heard all about your academies." Gondo replied as he fell into step at the left of the Sorcerer King and they walked into the great complex.

"Hard to believe that this was once the last stand of your people." Ainz said thoughtfully as dwarven men and women went back and forth on countless errands and the noise of them all echoed from stone sky to the stone beneath their feet.

Gondo shuddered grimly, "Aye, but it was, and we'll not forget what you did for us." Gondo's voice was fiercely determined and his fist clenched tightly while they walked.

Ainz recalled his time as an office worker, when coworkers had bad news but didn't want to share it with their bosses. Gondo was giving off that air right now, his fierce loyalty felt right, 'That clenched fist and sense of tension though, out of place, definitely out of place.' The Sorcerer King thought to himself, and took the leap. "But you have an opinion on the matter of my servant corps, don't you? One you're not inclined to share?"

Gondo deflated as they walked past some gawking dwarven guards and the great stone double doors groaned slowly open. His face went down and he stroked his beard in rapid, small gestures.

"You have seen through your servant. Aye, I do, Majesty." Gondo replied glumly.

"Out with it. I don't punish for feedback, a question or doubt won't diminish your loyalty, withholding knowledge from me, however, would." Ainz remarked solemnly as they drew deeper within the council building.

"As you say, Your Majesty. The truth is, we don't have much call for servants, and we have doubts about the ability of most other races to function in a home like ours. Our darker skinned cousins in the South, yes. The undead, of course. But elves, humans, goblins, orcs, and so on?" He shook his head, "It wouldn't do to have them, only for them to lose their minds in an environment like this. Besides, what good would it do for some of our elites to have maids and butlers, just seems unnecessary."

Ainz had to keep from rubbing his hands together as he entered his element, 'sales'. "True, it is not 'necessary' to make your life easier, but it is pleasant to do so. To live a happier, more comfortable life. As it stands, I know your judges prepare all their ink and quills and work spaces. Time that could be better spent refining their craft as judges by reading. I have it on good authority that your tanners spend long periods preparing their own baths when they don't live close to a bathhouse. All to wash the chemicals from off their bodies. This reduces their work time and the time spent training apprentices. A good servant knows how to draw and prepare a bath in just the way the master of the house likes it. Cooking your own food is fine, but one dwarf can't dig two tunnels at once, can he?" Ainz asked simply as he drew on the popular dwarven expression.

Gondo stroked his beard more slowly and looked up at the Sorcerer King, "That's a mighty good point, I guess people doing the little things would give us more time at our trades, or just free time for…"

"Drinking." Ainz pointed out, "An hour you don't have to spend on trivialities is an extra hour at the tavern." Ainz raised his finger vertically in front of himself as he made the killing point.

Gondo's beard obscured much, but his eyes widened with sudden understanding and his mouth fell open in excitement. "Majesty, present it to them like that, and I'm convinced that they might even name another brew in your honor!"

Ainz chuckled at the reference to the highest honor the dwarves could render to someone. The last time they'd done that, he'd saved their whole race from extinction. 'And they might do it again for providing them an extra hour of drinking per day? They really do love their beer.'

They entered the council chamber, and Gondo jumped straight to the point as soon as the bowing had ended, the array of dwarven council members finally seated themselves.

"He's going to give us more drinking time!" Gondo spat out immediately, there wasn't even a chance to ask anything, not by anyone. But the effect was immediate and the council leaned forward one and all, listening intently. Ainz took advantage of that attention. He quickly snatched a slate out of his pocket dimension, and began breaking down their hour by hour tasks when not directly engaging in the business of rule.

When he was done, he tapped his chalk on the amount of time spent on just 'life tasks'. "And all of that can be accomplished by talented live-in servants, from the simple maintenance of your home to drawing your baths, good servants make for great living. You could save as much as three to four hours per day, if you were willing to bear the cost of a loyal servant." Ainz raised his chalk and pointed up at them, and lowered his slate. "Note that I said 'servant' not 'slave'. These are paid positions, my labor laws will protect their interests. Slavery is a foolish, inefficient system and it won't be taken up again."

They inclined their heads in unison. "We understand, and of course… we have no doubt as to Your Majesty's ability to deliver on… anything. If you were to promise to put the sun in our mountain to give us light, I'd show up waiting to see it made so. But, how seeing is always superior to hearing." An elderly dwarf said from the center of the row of seats.

Ainz folded his hands together in a pyramid in front of himself. "You're right, which is why I will demonstrate the value of this system to the elites of your people and the quagoa all at once. Your elites are invited somewhere… special."

Their ears pricked up, the silence hung as the suspense built.

"You have perhaps heard of the man, 'Aalon', who labored for generations preparing to wage war against the Slane Theocracy? He had his freed elves hidden in the mountains to the west of Feron, and they became the mountain elves. They're still there, mining, working, living. What is left of Feron has become a trading outpost that sends goods and crops out to the east." He paused to let their memories catch up with what he'd said, but while he saw recognition, he didn't see comprehension.

"I intend to host your elite citizens at a gathering in the mountains west of Feron. They turned their training ground into an arena. There, Momon and Nabe of 'Darkness' will be pitted against dwarven and quagoan champions in an exhibition match. The elites will be attended by some of our servants during the match, and will be hosted by the rising wealthy class of the Mountain Elves. You, and they, will remain in those homes for seven days for cultural exchange, and see how fluid a house functions when good servants attend the residents."

For a moment, there was silence.

"Oh, and I will be providing beer from Nazarick to those who accept my invitation throughout the seven day cultural exchange." Ainz said as a brief addendum. The dwarves shot up from their chairs and cheered before he finished the first of those two final sentences.


	5. Echoes & Bloodsongs

_...Western Mountains of Feron…_

Echo. Echo. Echo. Again and again they heard it, the sound of their footsteps as they walked the strange 'mountain valley'. The steps of Pandora's Actor rang off the stone in defiance of their silence. Only stone below them, only stone beside, but blue sky above, the high mountain walls bore the etching scratches of tools, but what the dwarves of the Azelian mountain range stopped in mid step for were the stone trees.

"What the…" Gondo was the first to speak as they rounded the long curve and saw it. He stopped cold and raised his hand to point at the stone walls of the long pass to the mountain elf settlement. The rest of the elites of the dwarven upper class followed his gesture and stopped in their tracks just as sharply.

Pandora's Actor glanced over his shoulder, "Now do you see why I requested my lord deposit us at the base of the long path, rather than directly inside?"

The dwarves grunted and stared. Carved into the stone walls were trees, endless numbers of trees, unpainted, yet still somehow 'lifelike' as the sun shone down over the part, their shadows stretched to touch the trees and moved with their makers. It made it appear as though the trees were moving.

"Magic… without magic?" Gondo said with wonder in his voice, his mouth open and eyes only slightly less so at the intricate artistry of master craftsmen.

"Go, touch it." Pandora's Actor said with a wave of his hand.

The elites approached the stone that they loved, and caressed the etchings as if they were monuments to heroes, and the artisans turned their heads back to look at 'Darkness'. "Lord Momon… bark? I feel like I'm touching 'bark'. But it is truly stone, isn't it?" One from the dwarven party asked in the hushed and reverential voice reserved for master artisans.

"Yes, a simple illusion spell added to the physical effect, the mountain stone is real, it is part of this range, yet the mountain elves, remembering their forest heritage, carved a tribute to their past in stone, and used an illusion spell to fool the sense of touch." Pandora's Actor inclined his head favorably as he spoke of Aalon's people. "They were wasted as slaves, look what they are capable of when left to their own devices."

"Sir Momon, should we not move on? They are expecting us." Nabe said in a clipped professional tone, and looked further up the path.

"She's right but… amazing. I always thought we dwarves alone could master the stone, but to blend it with illusion magic and cut the stone so intricately? We'll have to… what was that term His majesty used once?" Gondo stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment before one of his colleagues spoke up.

"Step up our game." The dwarf beside Gondo said, "Crude sounding, but it came from him so it must be true, and it's a fair point, we've been masters of the stone for generations. But who were we competing against? Nobody, that's who. It's easy to be a master around children, but now we're entering a world of masters of their crafts. If we want to still be the best…" The dwarf touched the stone affectionately, running his hand over it, he felt his skin tingle as the false sensation of bark, and his eyes widened even further when he touched the shell of a stone carved insect, and felt its smoothness.

"Correct. And the free time provided to you by good, specialized servants, allows ample time to focus on your own improvement." Pandora's Actor pointed out astutely, and then resumed his walk, allowing the lot of them to fall in behind him. The hundred dwarves that gradually, reluctantly broke away from their interest, fell into a slow moving cluster behind their two escorts.

The echoes of voices and footsteps continued all the way up the long valley that cut into the mountain until they found themselves slowly rising up in a long curving path that grew more narrow as it ascended. Most of the stone path had carvings cut into it, some were forests, some were grasslands, others were people, chiefly elves like their makers. All were stunning in their intricacy and the party halted twice more over some particularly evocative scenes that showed careful attention to the fine details of the stone, polished smooth in some places, with gentle ripples where water was carved, which 'felt' wet to the touch, or rough bark over trees.

"We don't normally care much for the outdoors beyond the mountains but… for stonework of it, of such high quality? And the innovation of using illusion magic that way? Clever." Gondo said admiringly as he walked with the relaxed ease of dwarves amongst stone.

"Hmpf." Was Nabe's only begrudging answer, and there were only the echoes of their steps the rest of the way until they reached a great stone gate.

In front of that gate stood a figure waving excitedly. His hand seemingly trying to escape him, it stretched so high up as it swung back and forth. He strode swiftly over the ground at just below the pace of a jog, and bowed deeply as soon as he was a few feet away from the visitors, his eyes turned down to the stone, before he raised them to the dark hero. "Lord Momon, Lady Nabe" Aalon said, his red vampire eyes shone with happiness as he snapped erect, "And the honored guests of His Royal Majesty!" Aalon exclaimed with elation and held his hands out in front of him as if entreating their indulgence.

"Welcome to a home of the impossible made possible. I know, master dwarves, that you and your quagoa counterparts have both claimed lordship over stone, but as you've walked this way… I assume you've found you no longer stand alone?"

A low rumble went up from among the dwarves that was, a bit begrudging, but there were no denials. "As you may have guessed from these," he pointed to the red pools that served to mark him a vampire, "I am a vampire, I am Governor Aalon, ruler of Feron and its mountain region, commander of the first battalion of free elves, and loyal servant of his esteemed Majesty, the great liberator, Ainz Ooal Gown. The place you're about to enter is like nowhere else in the world, at least not that I know of. While here, you will be attended by the servants of our common Lord, and guest yourselves within the estates of the greatest of my people. From our finest artisans, to my own children. During this time, when not at the arena, you will be allowed everywhere, our workshops, our smithies, we have no secrets. We are children of the one god, who has given us our lives, and an empire we can be proud to be part of!"

He smiled so widely and broadly that it was easy to forget his fangs and see him as just a man supremely happy with his place in life and the world he inhabited. "Enjoy our music, enjoy our wine, enjoy our beer and food, enjoy all that we have, to honor you who also fought and bled for the race of those I loved before and still."

His passionate voice, his rousing words, his clear devotion to the Sorcerer King, cracked the sturdy armor of dwarven hearts as common ground was on vocal display in the faithfulness to the Sorcerer King, but when they heard him bring up alcohol, their eyes lit up like torches in the darkness.

"Come, follow me, my daughter should be waiting in the reception hall with a feast!" He said and spun on his heel and strode for the gate which was already creaking open slowly and inexorably for their entry.

They looked around in further surprise as they saw the curious architecture. Far from the short, compact structures of the dwarves, these were as if stone grew like trees. With buildings, far from being 'stacked' seemed to be interconnected in a weaving pattern where each one supported another like bricks being laid down in an overlapping pattern. The structures went up and out from the center and went several times higher than the tallest dwarven buildings, and around them went stairs whose stone rails were shaped like vines. It brought them up short to see, and they looked blankly to Aalon for explanation.

He turned to address them when he ceased to hear the footsteps, and grinned broadly and with pride, "You have a stone sky, we have a blue one, our blue one goes higher than your stone one. We've got all that empty real estate up there, don't we?" He pointed a finger up for emphasis, "Why not use it, eh?" He winked his left red eye, and then spun to walk onward toward the cavern entrance of the mountains.

Gondo watched with fascinated, lingering eyes as elves did things commonly associated with dwarves. The way their artisans caressed the stone as if they loved it, the way they chipped at it to shape it with delicate touches, all just like artisans of the dwarves. Others among the elves were busy hauling heavy stone, though most were not, preferring to leave that in the hands of undead labor, it was clear that the undead were not as numerous here as in his home.

A young woman with the build of a human sprinter approached the large party and stopped in front of Aalon. She opened her arms and embraced him. Her blood red eyes indicated her vampiric nature. "Father. Welcome home." She said, and looked over Aalon's shoulder to the body of dwarves and the dark hero pair who walked in front of them.

"Ah, our guests." She stepped away and to the side and bowed deeply, she was, to Gondo's eyes, fairly tall, as well as slender and lithe. "Welcome to our home, I am Tula, Aalon's daughter," She looked over to Aalon with a pleasant, familial face, "Father, I'll take over from here, the council has some questions for you."

Aalon rolled his eyes and looked to the heavens, then rubbed his forehead. "What now, it's not another petition from the former inhabitants, is it?"

Tula rolled her eyes just as he had, "Yes, I'm afraid so, father. Just go deal with it, I can handle getting our guests seen to."

"Fine, fine." He sighed with exasperation and turned to the visiting band. "Forgive me," he bowed slightly, "I must attend to this immediately, as she says, my daughter can tend to you, she has my full authority as my heir here."

His voice was clearly full of annoyance, but when no objections came, he rushed away and Tula waved them forward, while the dwarves looked around with professional interest at the many forms of stone work taking place, Pandora's Actor approached more closely and inquired, "What kind of petition is this?"

Tula shook her head dismissively, her black hair swung freely over her lower back, "Nothing, it's just the survivors of Feron, well, 'Elf'eron' if the renaming petition passes muster with His Majesty," she smirked a bit, as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "anyway, what do you know about how the city beside this place, fell?"

"Little." Pandora's Actor answered truthfully and glanced down at Nabe beside him.

"Insects died, lots of insects." She said in a clipped, spiteful voice.

Tula smiled so that her fangs flashed at them, "Beautiful Princess Nabe has it exactly right. Lord Aalon, my father, spent generations preparing for war with the Slane Theocracy. Hiding the elves here that he was able to buy or capture in raids on small camps. He spent bloody sweat and time to build our army, training our liberated elven slaves as warriors, turning those who were well suited to the strengths of a vampire. I've been with him for almost all that time, since he adopted me, raised me, all those ages ago. I know him better than anyone in the world." Tula's voice became wistful, gentle, and she moved to wipe away a bloody tear.

"The way his heart broke when he had to give up Nua, he never really got over it. So when the time came to go to war, when our King finally appeared and heralded the battle we'd craved but didn't expect for another few hundred years? You don't know. You don't know the joy that sang in our hearts, we caused avalanches by the echo of our music when we could hold back no more." Her expression became hard, her lips pursed into an expression of contempt that made Momon immediately think of Nabe herself.

"It was a blood song, so when we took Feron, there was no real need for us to show mercy. They sowed the rain, and so they reaped the storm. Most of the city of Feron was wiped out. What wasn't wiped out, was allowed to flee. But we didn't bury most of the bodies, we defleshed the bones and began raising them as skeletons." Tula explained with a calm and contented tone as they entered a large and outwardly polished and smooth, cavern opening.

"But… there are few undead here." Momon replied and glanced around as if to confirm his own eyes.

"Correct, almost all of them have been working to rebuild Feron, or what we will rename is 'Elf'eron' when we're done." Tula explained as she led them down the long, wide cave tunnel until they reached a large bronze double door set that stood twice the height of Momon and four times as wide. Etched on the bronze were sculpted scenes of the elven army on one side, and the city of Feron with its collapsed walls on the other.

"I see, so...far. Well, then what is the issue?" Momon pressed as she stepped aside and with a half bow, extended her left arm across her body and her right arm fully extended toward the entry, pointing the way into a large open dining area filled with stone tables and chairs. Light stones and heat stones glowed at places where they were embedded into the walls, and overhead a large glass chandelier hung down which held enchanted candles that burned blue flames and cast rays of dull blue light out over the room.

"Nothing significant, see last year, the survivors of Kami Miyako started making their way back to Feron, hoping to get their homes back," she snorted in disgust, and when they saw the skeletons, they put two and two together. So now they've been begging my father to give them back the bodies of their families, that's all." Tula smiled gently as they passed her by.

"Just sit anywhere, the servers will be out with meals shortly." She said in the same tone of voice used to describe the 'hostage corpses' a moment earlier.


	6. Hateful Rule

The dwarves seated themselves at various tables around the room, while Momon and Nabe followed after Tula, her whimsical smile graced her face and barely revealed the fangs that marked her true nature. "It's a bit absurd, don't you think, they oppressed thousands for over a century, then cry out for justice when, not even their living, simply their dead, are put to labor use."

"Insects are insects, living or dead." Nabe shrugged indifferently and kept her face coldly neutral as her eyes swept the room.

Tula nodded in enthusiastic agreement, "Precisely. The humans who once ruled this place, bought almost all their iron from our various mines. Fespis higher, lower, east, and west, they never had a clue who my father really was." A sweet smile aglow with pride in her parent, she led them to a table of stone and gestured with her left hand for them to be seated. "He told me stories about the way the slaves were treated there. He used to visit it to remind himself of his goal. Vile beings." Her lip curled briefly in disgust.

"But weren't you human before?" Momon asked as he glanced over her to be sure, her ears were clearly human enough.

Tula didn't nod, but she did speak, "Yes, as distasteful as that is. But don't misunderstand, father didn't teach me to hate humanity, but I didn't need prompting to hold them in contempt. Faithless, short sighted, and cruel, most of them. We act in good faith, but the survivors of Aalon's wrath? They don't."

"What do you mean, have you forgotten that I and my partner are humans?" Momon inquired, and Pandora's Actor removed his helmet, setting it in his lap to allow the face his father chose, to be seen.

Tula shook her head, "You are no ordinary human, and you are a servant of the divine liberator, you're different. Heroes transcend humanity. I transcended my humanity by my vampirism. You… chose a more impressive route. That being said, the outcast humans have started to prey on travelers."

Momon and Nabe traded a disturbed look. "Has this been reported to the Sorcerer King? Or Governor Enri? Or the heads of Reconciliation and Outreach?"

Tula shook her head, "No, we haven't. The Faithless haven't killed anybody yet, so we've been dealing with it locally. They waylay travelers and beat them, but they don't even steal. You want the truth that makes it awkward, it's like they're daring us to escalate the situation, so…?" She shrugged, "We make arrests, punish, and kick them out again. But there are a lot of places to hide around here."

Momon looked over his shoulder when the appreciative noises began among the dwarves. Human and elven servants in formal outfits began to appear in numbers, wheeling out large quantities of food, beer, and wine. Their carts were of burnished silver with ornate dark wooden handles polished smooth and varnished to a shine.

Pandora's Actor watched with approval at the perfect synchronization of the servants, but as he did so, he noticed something else. 'The dwarves aren't seeing that. They're not seeing the gracefulness, the flow, the obvious training in every step and gesture… they have eyes only for what is on the trays and in the bottles.' He suppressed a sigh, 'Am I truly so rare, in my appreciation for the perfection of motion and presentation?'

Tula's expression changed then as she glanced at the entrance, Momon followed her eyes to an elven woman at the door wearing a white shirt and pants with a bright red insignia on it that he recognized as part of the healing corps.

"Excuse me, I'd better go see what's happened." Tula said and gave a hasty apologetic bow before she rushed across the floor in long quick steps to speak in hushed whispers to the unexpected arrival.

He turned his face away and looked to his blank faced partner. "What do you see, Nabe?"

"Nothing of note." She said with a scowl as her glare swept the room.

Momon refrained from rolling his eyes, "Not here, in what she said."

Nabe narrowed her eyes at him.

"Have you forgotten the point?" He stared at her with his arms folded in front of him.

"Oh." She said and let her eyes fall briefly.

"Right. We face our opponents in the tournament, but what if we bring them together more fully by drawing them together as a unit, a single joint operation to bring down this insurrection before it becomes a bigger problem?" Momon proposed this with an excited clap of his hands together

The rest of the meal was spent watching the servants move amongst the dwarven elites with smooth professionalism as the dwarves proved their reputation as professional grade drinkers to be very accurate.

It went on until the dwarves themselves could manage little more than to rise and stumble from their tables, praising the generosity of their hosts, and they were one by one assisted by the talented servants, out of the great hall, so drunkenly that they did not think to even ask where they were going.

"A hearty people." Pandora's Actor remarked in a sort of neutral way as he tried to ignore Naberal's cold glare, they left together at the end, and all he could do was whisper, "Just remember the plan."

"Of course." She grumbled under her breath as they made their way back to their quarters in Aalon's private residence.

His home was a simple series of rooms cut into the stone high up on the mountain, with ornate circular steps carved out of wood and secured by tight fitting alone into a great stone pillar that had seemingly been raised out of the mountain itself. There a series of holes had been cut in rectangular shapes going in an upward spiral, and into those holes, tight fitting wooden beams had been forced.

A rail of thin metal spikes and a series of winding interconnected wooden segments laid atop them and served for security. They went up the steps until coming to a stone landing, and found no door in place, only an open cavern that had been polished smooth, it ran within for a number of yards, and and on either side there were openings that had been modified by the guiding hands of artisans or laborers or both. Though the cave at first appeared dark, as soon as they walked within, various glowing rocks began to cast a faint blue hue that created an almost mystical aura over the entire area.

"Come, this way!" Aalon shouted from within a room a dozen yards within. Momon followed the voice, and saw a faint hint of outside light appear on the floor when he heard the sound of a curtain being snapped open.

Inside the room, he saw Aalon with his back to the door, standing at a small open outcropping that had been concealed by a curtain. "Take a look at this." He said without looking back.

Pandora's Actor and Nabe traded uncertain looks, and approached. Aalon's hand went up and he pointed down, "See that, there's Feron."

"I see it. How far is it from here?" Momon asked glibly.

"As the rock falls?" Aalon asked, and reached over to a small vase, he drew out a stone, and threw it as hard as he could. It had a long, slow arc, and finally hit the distant wall. "Not that far. Though I've never exactly measured, I used to stand here sometimes, and in the dark I'd just throw rocks at those walls. I knew one day I'd take that city, destroy its people. I knew one day, my Nua would be avenged, the slaves would be freed, and I would destroy the country I was born in." He folded his hands behind his back and stared out at the place.

"Insects." Nabe remarked in agreement.

"Nabe…" Momon said gently.

Aalon raised his hand to touch Momon's armored forearm, "No, she's right. Or as I see it, she is, I've grown a general distaste for humans now, and though I'm glad the war is over, the Theocracy is dead, well?" he rubbed his forehead in frustration, "There are still so many alive, the surviving humans, the ones who live there and the ones who live in hiding outside of it, I have to govern them. It's difficult, you know, after this long." He swallowed and went quiet.

"What is?" Momon inquired.

"Ruling over what I despise." Aalon admitted.

"Humans enslaved my Nua, humans beat my Nua, humans raped my Nua, humans… wanted to 'eat' my Nua. And a human, sold Nua while she was pregnant with his baby, leaving her to be ground down on a farm and have that ripped from her and thrown into a hole to rot. Why? Because his wife didn't like her. That last one is the worst, because he was me. I'm glad I'm not human anymore, not that 'weak monster'. However… Now I have to go down there almost every day and see humans walking the streets as if the war never happened. I'd prefer to kill them all." Aalon spat in the direction of the city and turned away from it. "I'm sorry, I know you're humans, and not all humans are like that but…"

"It's fine, no man can bear all things." Momon replied and clapped a hand on Aalon's shoulder.

"It would be… easier, perhaps, to kill them all, all the broken ones, all the living whose souls lie dead despite their hearts still beating, fallen on now silent battlefields. But you know better, despite your hatred… you know what such an act would mean." Momon said as he looked down at the red eyed vampire whose fingers twitched still.

"Yes, an act like that, I would break faith with His Majesty's peace, I would break faith with those who truly did surrender, and are only trying to live their lives." Aalon looked up admiringly at Momon, a fang filled smile on his face, "Warrior, you are not humanity's champion for nothing. Not to worry, I will not break faith. If it is to be done, let it be done by someone else, I'd rather break the cycle that destroyed Nua's life, my life, and took away our child, than break faith and start it all over again."

'Is this what it means to be a champion, to truly be the Sword of God or is he something more than even that? If the pope is his scourge and wrath, am I looking on the beating heart of divinity's conscience…?' Aalon blinked his eyes and threw back his head and laughed at the stone ceiling, it echoed briefly before his laughter carried out beyond the mountain, "Come, let me show you to your quarters, this way."

He said, and led them out two more doors down, a simple room with two beds and ample space, along with a marvelous view of the space beyond the mountain. "We didn't know whether you needed ah, one bed or two, so we got two and a single room, you know, rumors and all…" Aalon rubbed the back of his head and shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Two." Momon and Nabe said abruptly and in unison, startling Aalon into briefly blinking and then letting out a hint of nervous laughter.

"Right, lucky guess then, sleep well, we'll see you at the fight tomorrow." Aalon said hastily and made his exit, shutting the door behind him.

_...House of Law…Fespis East…_

"Welcome to my home." Judge Aman Raelos said with a polite bow, only to find that the dwarf guest to whom he was bowing, had fallen asleep standing up.

He scratched his head, "Ah… what happened?" Judge Raelos considered himself to be among the most unflappable of elven judges in the entire mining community range. But as he saw the dwarf just snoring on his feet, held up chiefly by the arm of the maidservant, he wasn't sure what to say.

"The beer was much to their liking." She smiled weakly, brushing her blonde hair back beyond her long elven ears. Her white teeth bit back a snort of laughter at his consternation, biting her lower lip instead of parting to let the amusement show.

"I will… take him to his room, My Lord, and ah, just show off our skills in the morning over breakfast." She proposed as if he himself had made the suggestion, and Aman scratched his head in thought.

"I'd heard they liked their drink, but…" He chuckled, "No, there are worse things, and this is something of a vacation for them, let them have their fun, time enough for talk tomorrow. Yes, go ahead, take him to his quarters."

"Yes M'Lord." She said with a chuckle as she half walked and mostly dragged one of the high dwarven judges, deeper into the stone 'estate'.

"Oh…" Aman said without looking back as she passed him by. "One more question?"

"Oofah, yes sir?" She asked, stopping and looking over her shoulder with a bit of minor struggle.

"Was he the only one to pass out like this?" Aman asked, keeping his raised brow hidden from her by not looking behind him still.

"Ah, no, no we had to help all of them away from their tables." She replied, unable to keep back a half amused and half exasperated laugh.

"Oh my, well… it can't be helped, see to it then, I suppose I'll turn in as well, leave a handbell to summon you, but otherwise get your rest." Aman added in an even voice as he walked away from the entryway and back towards his own private room.


End file.
